Textile Arts at Finlandia
Gallery June 20 to September 8

Riitta-Liisa Haavisto (1930-2009) and
Anna-Riitta Haavisto

HANCOCK, MI - Finnish textile artists, mother and daughter
Riitta-Liisa Haavisto (1930-2009) and Anna-Riitta Haavisto, will exhibit their
work at the Finlandia University Gallery June 20 to September 8, 2011. The
gallery is located in the Finnish American Heritage Center, Hancock.

The exhibit is titled "White Forests, Blue Sky: Two
Generations of Art Textiles, Paper and Metal Constructions." Two events related
to the exhibit will take place.

The first, at the gallery on Thursday, June 23, 3:00 to 5:00
p.m., is part of a "Gallery Walk" in conjunction with the 2011 Northern Wefts
Weaver's Conference, which takes place in Hancock June 20 to 25.

The second is a closing reception with Anna-Riitta Haavisto
on Thursday, September 8, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Haavisto will speak at 7:15 p.m.
The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Riitta-Liisa Haavisto and Anna-Riitta
Haavisto transform the traditional methods and materials of the textile arts in
markedly different ways. Riitta-Liisa employed an expressive, painterly
approach to embroidery, using jewel-toned fabrics and threads to create scenes
inspired by nature, folklore, and current events.

The mother's and daughter's work may differ
in execution, but what they share of their personal histories, life experience,
and inspirations creates an artistic resonance in their work.

"Although they are from different
generations, Riitta-Liisa and Anna-Riitta share a common source of inspiration:
Laila Karttunen (1895-1981), one of the most renowned textile artists in
Finland and Riitta-Liisa's aunt," notes Pirkko Vekkeli in the article "Relative
Values" for the journal Embroidery (UK, 2002).

"Laila Karttunen's love of vibrant colors
and textiles made a deep impression on her younger relatives," Vekkeli
explains. "One might say that these characteristics have been transferred from
one generation to the next. Both mother and daughter draw from the same
tradition: a passionate use of color."

Riitta-Liisa
Haavisto was trained as a fashion designer and she worked for the Finnish
fashion industry for most of her career. At the same time she was a lecturer in
several art colleges in Finland, for example at the University of Art &
Design Helsinki. She was also a full time lecturer at the Häme Polytechnic for
14 years.

Riitta-Liisa was the president of the
Finnish Association of Fashion Designers MTO for a number of years and she has
won many prizes in various design competitions over the years. She also
received the prestigious Bruno Mathsson Award for Nordic Design in 1984, and
became an honorary member of the Finnish Association of Designers ORNAMO in
2005.

After her retirement Riitta-Liisa Haavisto
concentrated mainly on producing her artworks.

"Haavisto's fibers of choice are silk,
cotton, linen and viscose - always mixed in one piece and sometimes used
together as a single thread for the right color effect and texture," describes
Nell Znamierowski in Embroidery in 2005.

"One of Finland's most highly regarded
embroidery artists, Riitta-Liisa Haavisto will long be remembered for her
elegant abstractions stitched with an uninhibited style," notes Carol K Russell
of Riitta-Liisa in Fiber Art Today (U.S., 2011).

"In
layers of impossibly fine threads, she suspends her audience somewhere between
recognition and sensation. Her designs were inspired by people, of whom she
made piles of sketches or by childhood imaginings of hobgoblins and fairies
inhabiting the Finnish forests," continues Russell.

"Enigmatic subjects, portrayed with minimal
but convincing expression are intensified by potent elements such as negative
space and deep mysterious backgrounds. Yet, nothing seems willed here. It is as
if each form or color reveals the next logical note in the music of her
personal sphere. Present always though is the unmistakable equilibrium of a
master conductor."

Anna-Riitta Haavisto studied textile art and
design in London, England from 1977 to 1980 and 1981 to 1982, first at the
University of East London and later at the Central St. Martins College of Art
& Design (current names).

Anna-Riitta's approach to her art is
experimental, often employing non-conventional materials in her sculptures. She
draws inspiration from nature, as well as from culture, religion, and political
and environmental subjects.

In her article for Fiberarts, "The
Haavistos of Helsinki" (U.S., 2001), Russell describes the strength of
Anna-Riitta's sculptures: "Anna-Riitta transforms vast, interconnected human
dilemmas into taut, focused fiber sculptures. Her approach, less descriptive
than either her mother's or her aunt's, reflects a rare inner consonance with
an unpredictable and often discordant universe."

Carol K. Russell closely examines
Anna-Riitta's work in her book Fiber Art Today, "Inspired by the
iconic box of chocolates from the film Forrest Gump, her work Sweet Times
contains similar layers of possibilities and surprises. With her experimental
inclination coupled with the aesthetic influences of the cubists and the
Bauhaus, the artist vents personal or societal realities through the orderly
visual languages she was taught as a child."

"With tradition as point of departure, the
Haavistos set free the threads and structures of handcrafted textiles to assume
deeper metaphors and meanings as fine art," notes Carol K. Russell in Fiber
Art Today.

Since 1998, the Haavistos' work has been
featured in more than 22 joint exhibitions in Finland, England, Scotland,
Norway, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada, and in dozens of group
exhibitions.

This exhibition celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Finnish Association of
Designers ORNAMO.

More information about the artists is
included in the book, Fiber Art Today,
by Carol K. Russell, published in 2011 by Schiffer Publishing Ltd, Atglen, Pennsylvania, USA.

White
Forests, Blue Sky is on
display at the Finlandia University Gallery through September 8, 2011.

The Finlandia University Gallery is in the
Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. Gallery hours are
Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by appointment. Please call
906-487-7500 for more information.